IT HAS been an auspicious start to the year in Colombia. Fewer people have died in the country’s armed conflict than in any other month in the past 30 years. That is a result of the declaration of an indefinite ceasefire by the FARC guerrillas. After more than two years of talks in Havana between the government and the FARC, officials are optimistic about reaching an agreement in the coming months. “I hope this is the year of peace,” said Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s president.Maybe. The peace process emerged stronger from a crisis in November, when the government suspended talks after the FARC kidnapped an army general, securing his swift release. But if the talks are indeed on the last lap, this could yet be a long and difficult one. The negotiators have reached agreements on the first three items of a six-point agenda, concerning rural development, the guerrillas’ participation in politics and steps to curb drug-trafficking. Since July they have been locked in discussions on the most delicate point of all: “transitional justice”—in other words, striking a balance between truth, justice and reconciliation.A generation ago, as the cold war waned, leftist...
from The Economist: The Americas http://ift.tt/1txsT8H
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